WHEN Hurricane Melissa tore through western Jamaica in late October, closing hotels, disrupting logistics and knocking out utilities, it put Wisynco Group Limited’s long-running expansion strategy to a real-world test.

That strategy — more than $5 billion invested over nearly three years to expand production, diversify products and deepen distribution — held.

Wisynco emerged from the quarter with stronger sales, sharply higher profits and wider margins, signalling that years of investment across its core beverage and food brands are now translating into resilience and earnings power.

“My expectation was that all this capacity that we put in over the last year and a half, which we’ve spoken about many times, has really started to pay dividends. We’re getting greater production, greater demand and meeting the demand out there,” chairman William Mahfood said in a call with Jamaica Obsever on Monday.

Just over a year ago, Wisynco faced a constraint problem. By late 2024, production lines were effectively maxed out, with distributors reporting shortages across parts of the beverage network.

Since then, new manufacturing capacity has come on stream, allowing Wisynco to expand output across its proprietary brands — including Wata, Bigga, Boom and its juice portfolio — while also supporting the rollout of its growing alcoholic beverage line and broader packaging formats across retail and wholesale channels.

By early 2025, local demand was being met again. By summer, volumes were climbing. And by the second quarter, the company was able to absorb the disruption of a category five hurricane without derailing growth.

Consolidated revenue for the October-to-December quarter rose 14 per cent to $16.19 billion, driven by higher production, stronger distribution execution and the launch of new brewed alcoholic products. Exports also grew 14 per cent, though they continue to represent just two per cent of overall sales.

“We started to see a significant increase after March [2025] going into summer. That is when we started to see things picking back up. By the summer, we saw a big increase in demand,” Mahfood added in the interview with Business Observer.

Hurricane Melissa which hit the island on October 28 last year, caused widespread damage across western parishes, reducing hotel capacity, cutting international arrivals through Sangster International Airport and disrupting utilities and road networks. Major resorts — including Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Royalton Resorts and Bahia Principe — remain closed for repairs and are not expected to reopen until August 2026 and beyond.

For Wisynco, food service and hotel channels were temporarily affected, but the broader business absorbed the shock.

“While the Company’s food service and hotel channels experienced temporary disruptions to their businesses as a result of Hurricane Melissa, these were offset by stronger performance across other distribution channels,” the company said in its quarterly report.

Mahfood said Wisynco’s distribution reach also allowed it to support relief efforts through its Wata brand, donating water and other supplies, while private entities turned to the company to purchase beverages for emergency distribution.

As volumes increased, Wisynco’s scale began to work in its favour. Higher output allowed fixed costs to be absorbed more efficiently, pushing margins higher and lifting profitability well ahead of expense growth.

Gross profit rose 27 per cent to $5.92 billion, while operating profit climbed 54 per cent to $1.85 billion, even as operating expenses increased 16 per cent.

Net profit for the quarter reached $1.48 billion, nearly 50 per cent higher than a year earlier.

That momentum carried into the six-month results, with revenue, operating profit and net income all posting solid double-digit gains.

Wisynco said the financial impact of the hurricane has been contained. Accounts receivable collections returned to normal by November and December, with balances linked to closed hotels accounting for less than 0.2 per cent of total revenue.

Mahfood believes the next phase could be stronger still, as reconstruction activity feeds demand across multiple segments.

“There’s a lot of reconstruction and rebuilding that is coming which I believe is going to have a big impact on demand through the end of this year. I’m very bullish on the rest of this year,” he said, pointing to continued momentum from the company’s alcohol-based products.

The quarter also provided the clearest insight yet into the value of Ringtail Holdings Limited, the alcoholic beverage group that owns the Stone’s Ginger Wine brand and Select Brands Limited.

Wisynco disclosed that it acquired a 30 per cent stake in Ringtail Holdings on July 31, 2025, paying $2.45 billion for the interest. The disclosure implies a valuation of approximately $8.16 billion for Ringtail — the first time the company’s value has been explicitly revealed through a public filing.

Separately, Wisynco also acquired the business of Ringtail Bottlers Limited for $161.29 million, strengthening its position in brewed and alcoholic beverages and expanding its exposure to the hotel and hospitality market.

Wisynco shares closed Tuesday at $22.74, up 22 per cent for the year, lifting the company into the top 10 largest listings on the Jamaica Stock Exchange by market capitalisation. Its market capitalisation is at $86.48 billion.

The company declared a $0.23 dividend, payable on March 4 to shareholders on record as of February 12, underscores management’s confidence that the earnings gains are sustainable.

“We acknowledge the significant impact of Hurricane Melissa, which impacted Jamaica in October 2025, with the most severe consequences affecting the western parishes. The board commends the resilience and solidarity demonstrated by Jamaicans, both local and overseas, as individuals, public and private sector organisations mobilised to deliver relief supplies to affected parishes serving hundreds of thousands of our citizens,” Wisynco said.